(Yicai Global) June 15 -- Lionel Messi, an Argentine football legend, showed up to a live-streaming event on Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting more than 2.5 million viewers.

Although the athlete who is set to join Inter Miami this summer was not endorsing any brand, searches for T-shirts and shoes similar in style as he was wearing surged after the appearance yesterday, according to the platform run by Alibaba Group Holding. Over 1.5 million fans were waiting for one hour for the star to enter the program online and the number of viewers exceeded two million only three minutes after Messi joined the host. The show was organized by online advertising firm Yowant Technology. Messi arrived in Beijing on June 10 for a friendly match against Australia played today.

Fans could ask Messi questions and they were mostly curious about his about Messi’s career and future plans as well as the pet of food and sports he likes.

"I can feel Chinese fans are enthusiastic during this trip to China. For example, I see many fans outside waiting for us when we are training. They follow us and stay close to us. We feel very appreciated," Messi said. However, the star does not have much time for sightseeing. "We do not have much knowledge about China, so we spend most of our time in the hotel and the football court in Beijing and seldom leave the hotel," he added.

Shares of Yowant [SHE: 002291] dropped 4 percent to CNY15.06 (USD2.10) as of 2.44 p.m. after jumping by 5 percent on June 12 when the company said Messi will join the show

Editor: Emmi Laine